{"id":1425460,"date":"2026-01-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/?p=1425460"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:36:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T21:36:01","slug":"rotavirus-vaccine-removed-what-it-means-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2026\/01\/17\/rotavirus-vaccine-removed-what-it-means-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"My son had rotavirus before he could get the vaccine. Ending universal rotavirus vaccination is a tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Health and Human Services has removed the rotavirus vaccine, along with five others, from the list of universally recommended childhood immunizations. This makes the U.S. an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2026\/01\/09\/childhood-vaccination-fact-check-denmark-not-america-is-the-outlier\/\">outlier<\/a>. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/view-hub.org\/vaccine\/rota?iso=PRT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">International Vaccine Access Center<\/a>, more than 130 countries universally recommend rotavirus vaccination. Globally, the vaccine has the potential to prevent over 100,000 deaths every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am an infectious disease epidemiologist and have spent decades studying diarrheal diseases. I started my career in the U.K., pursing a Ph.D. on the viruses that cause diarrhea, including rotavirus. I know the health impact of these infections on children worldwide \u2014 and I\u2019ve seen it up close as a parent. It turns out that knowledge is not enough to avoid these highly infections pathogens.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2026\/01\/17\/rotavirus-vaccine-removed-what-it-means-kids\/?utm_campaign=api\">Read the rest\u2026<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rotavirus expert\u2019s baby caught the disease before vaccines were available. He\u2019s seen firsthand why the vaccine, recently downgraded on the vaccination schedule, is so important. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":784,"featured_media":1425495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"stat_display_restriction_not_latest":false,"stat_featured_image_caption":"","stat_featured_image_nocrop":false,"stat_featured_image_focal_point":{"x":0.5,"y":0.5},"stat_article_wordmark_img":[],"stat_article_wordmark_url":"","stat_article_wordmark_height":"125px","stat_article_wordmark_enable":false,"stat_article_subheadline":"I\u2019ve seen firsthand \u2014 and around the world \u2014 how the rotavirus vaccine has saved children","stat_paywall_restrict":false,"footnotes":"","stat_article_enhanced_byline":"Lopman is professor of epidemiology and global health at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.","stat_article_newsletter_id":"first_opinion","stat_article_header_color_scheme":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":43,"stat_paywall_move_flag":0},"categories":[43],"tags":[3793,837,669,234],"authors":[210761],"class_list":["post-1425460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first-opinion","tag-childrens-health","tag-global-health","tag-public-health","tag-vaccines"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-487318619-1024x681.jpg","coauthors":[{"avatar":"","display_name":"Ben Lopman","author_page":"","first_name":"","title":"","bio":"","email_address":"","email_url":"","twitter_url":"","twitter_handle":"","facebook_url":"","linkedin_url":"","web_url":"","bluesky_url":"","bluesky_handle":""}],"stat_card_curation":{"image_id":1425495,"title":"","excerpt":"","video_id":0,"disable_topic_image_curation":false},"template_inline_styles":{"global_styles":":root{--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--square: 1;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--4-3: 4\/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-4: 3\/4;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-2: 3\/2;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--2-3: 2\/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--16-9: 16\/9;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--9-16: 9\/16;--wp--preset--color--black: #000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray: #abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white: #FFFFFF;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink: #f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red: #cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange: #ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber: #fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan: 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